"Digital Bling" — Spicin’ it up with Widgets

I learned a bit about web widgets at the last Internet Librarian conference, but this is the first very interesting (and fairly in-depth) article in the mainsteam press that I have read discussing widgets. Not sure what these “widgets” are all about? Check out today’s New York Times Technology Section’s “Some Bling for your Blog” article, describing what widgets are, what they can do, how you can use them, etc. Some of my favorite excerpts from the article:

“Widgits are elements, often in the left or right columns of a blog, that enhance its usefulness or aesthetic appeal. (The term “widgets,” confusingly, can also refer to compact applications that operate on a computer’s desktop.)”

“‘Widgets pull content or services from some other place on the Web, and put it into your personal page,’ said Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist at Union Square Ventures in Manhattan.”

“Ed Anuff, a co-founder of Widgetbox.com, divides widgets into three categories. ‘One is self-expression widgets, like photo galleries, games or YouTube videos that you like,’ he said. The second category includes widgets that generate revenue for a blogger, like a box that displays auctions from a particular eBay category, or a blogger’s favorite DVDs from Amazon.com. The third category, Mr. Anuff said, encompasses ‘site-enhancement widgets, like discussion forums, news feeds or a guest book, which provide better utility for your Web site.’ Widgetbox is a site begun in September that collects widgets, spotlighting the newest and most popular ones; it offers more than 500 widgets.

According to Widgetbox, its most popular widget allows bloggers to incorporate an updated feed of news items from the site Digg into their blogs. Matt Mullenweg, creator of the WordPress blogging software, says the widgets that his users have been incorporating into their sites lately include Meebo, an instant-messaging application that allows blog authors to chat with their visitors.”

The article goes on to discuss the benefits of widgets to blog visitors and publishers, more examples of their use, and people, companies, and sites that promote and supply widgets. A very interesting read, I must say, again. I am looking forward to playing around with various widgets, and I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I did!

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